Separate Ways
by cloverlover
Summary: It stung him to see the boy prance his way to the table, but what stung him even more was when he took the empty seat next to Lily without asking her if he could. Then Severus watched numbly in shock as her hand came up to meet his, and they shook hands firmly, smiling as they looked into each other's eyes...
1. The Other Side

The Other Side  
It was yet another day in the busy streets of London. People filled the streets, busying themselves with their almost certainly monotonous daily tasks. Distant sounds of buses and cars created a dismal cacophony of meaningless background noise. It was hard to see anything through the mist; people, lights and colours were blurring together into a dull greyish blend. Though, if one cared enough to look, they might see two small figures, a boy and a girl, walking quickly along the wet sidewalk.

The girl was brightly dressed (today in a sharp green), and was easier by far to distinguish amongst the sea of people clothed to match the colour of the sky above them. The boy, however, wore clothes of considerable contrast - dull hues of grey and black, and if one looked at his feet they would see a pair of tattered, worn socks tucked neatly into his equally worn shoes. The two children were hand in hand, chatting idly as they made their way to King's Cross Station. An adult couple just behind trailed after them pulling a pair of identical trunks, smiling bemusedly at the pair of them.

"Did you remember to bring your train ticket?" the boy asked the girl.

"Severus, what makes you think I would forget something so incredibly important?" countered the girl, with a mock toss of her head. Her hair fanned out behind her, and the boy stopped for a moment to watch it with a twinkle in his eyes. She reached into her pocket, and out came a small ticket just big enough to fit into her palm, which read in clear bold letters, "Platform 9 3/4".

The boy named Severus merely smiled back at her. They had by this time made their way into the station, and he stared at the clock on the wall. His eyes widened slightly and he grabbed the girl's wrist. "Come on, or we'll be late!" he admonished, as they began to walk a bit faster. The girl's eyes widened in a similar fashion and she turned back to look at her parents, who, by this time, were pushing trolleys loaded with their trunks. "Mum! Dad! Hurry up, the train's going to leave any moment now!"

The four of them ran until Severus abruptly skidded to a halt in front of a large, very solid, brick wall. "Here it is," he said, gesturing towards it. The girl and her parents stopped behind him and looked the wall up and down.

"How is this wall going to get us to the Hogwarts Express?"

"Lily, this is the wizarding world, remember?" Severus reminded her. "You saw what it looked like back at Diagon Alley. Trust me. All you have to do is run towards this wall and it'll take you there. I'm positive, I read all about it."

"You're _positive_?" she repeated, incredulously. Severus could tell that as much as Lily wanted to believe that he was right and she wouldn't kill herself running into a brick wall, she looked like she couldn't quite get her head wrapped around it. "Sev, if I run into that wall and die of a concussion, I just want you to know that I swear I'll come back and haunt you until the day you die."

Lily's parents raised their eyebrows at each other. "That can't be right," said Mrs. Evans. "Lily, give me your ticket. I'll go and ask the officer over there."

"No!" said Severus, afraid of what might happen if Lily's parents went and asked an officer for what seemed to be a non-existent train platform. "Look, can I have my trolley, please, Mr. Evans? I'll go first and you can follow right behind me. We aren't going to crash, I promise you." Shaking his head slightly in disbelief, Mr. Evans decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and pushed the trolley towards him. Severus caught it before it could veer past him and took it in his hands. Taking a few steps back, Severus stared at the wall, looking as if he were sizing it up, then ran headlong towards it, faster and faster, until...

"Wow!" said Lily. "Did you see that, Dad? He went right through it!" She ran to the other side of the wall and returned quickly, her hair bouncing around her as she did. "And he didn't come out of the other side, either. Come on!"

Somewhat reluctantly, her parents nodded, and the three of them stepped backwards, braced themselves for what was to come, and ran towards the wall, waiting for the crash which never came.

On the other side of the wall, Severus gasped as he took in the scene around him. Wizards and witches strolled along the platform, unloading their trolleys, hugging their children, and ever so occasionally, chasing after a troublesome familiar which had escaped from its cage. The Hogwarts Express, with its bright red paint gleaming in the light, stood proudly next to the people there, and the sign which bore the name of the platform above him told Severus that he had come to the right place.

He heard the sound of wheels screeching behind him, and only had enough time to get out of the way before he saw Lily and her parents hurtling out of the wall they had just run through. Lily had her eyes closed, but as soon as her feet ground to a halt, they opened. Her eyes glittered as she saw the platform for the first time - the people, the train, the children – and she gave a little hop as she punched the air, punctuating her actions with one word: "Yes!"

As soon as they had placed their trunks in their respective places on the train, Lily and Severus ran to the nearest door onto the train. "Lily!" her parents called, and Lily turned to run back towards them. Severus turned, too, and quietly watched as Lily's parents gave her an affectionate and loving embrace. Mr. Evans kissed her cheek as Mrs. Evans said into her ear, "Take good care of yourself whilst you're away, will you?"

Lily answered with a nod of her head. "I'll write to you, as often as I can."

Lily's parents looked back onto the platform, their eyes searching. Severus looked around, hoping to aid them in whoever they were looking for, until he suddenly noticed their eyes on him. Mrs. Evans gave him a warm smile, and beckoned him towards them. Severus looked behind him to make sure they weren't beckoning to someone else, but only saw the red train door at his back. Cautiously, he walked towards them, hands clasped behind his back, feeling just a little shy. Lily's parents hugged him too, and Severus couldn't help but return the gesture, revelling in the unfamiliar sensation of having people who cared about him. He felt a small tickle next to his left ear. "Take care of Lily for us too, Severus," whispered Mr. Evans. "She could use a friendly companion in school."

Extricating himself from the tight hug, Severus looked Mr. Evans in the eye and said with a determined finality about him, "Always."

The whistle blew and the two children got onto the train as the wheels began to turn. With one last look back at her parents, Lily blew them multiple kisses while Severus waved until he was half-sure his arm was about to fall off. The train started, turned the corner, and the platform with all the people on it disappeared into the fog.


	2. Centipede Flavoured Beans

Centipede Flavoured Beans

As soon as Platform Nine and Three-Quarters disappeared from view, Severus and Lily rushed along the train, searching for an empty compartment. Severus passed several older students with identical badges emblazoned with the letter P on their robes, which he assumed were Prefects; a couple of girls giggling about something or other; a harried-looking boy who was stuck under his seat looking for something; and four boys who seemed to be getting along extremely well.

Severus stopped to observe the boys a bit more. One was showing off an extensive collection of Chocolate Frog cards, which were all tucked inside a small leather notebook he had. The boy was relatively well-dressed with dark brown eyes and hair which stuck upwards in a comical way, as if he were being electrocuted. The other three boys looked rather average – one had mousy brown hair and an anxious air about him; another had black hair which fell casually over his handsome grey eyes as he watched the first boy explain to him about his many Chocolate Frog cards. The third was much shorter, a little plump, and had shrunk into his seat, petting a small rat which was curled into his hand. That boy looked up and stared directly at Severus, who darted quickly out of sight before he could see. Hoping the boy hadn't seen him enough to fully register his facial features, Severus looked in the other direction, and noticed Lily sliding a door open to get into the compartment not so far away. "Hey, look, this one's empty, Sev!" she called to him. He hastily followed her and entered the compartment.

They sat in companionable silence for a while, watching the fields and plains pass by outside their window. Lily fiddled with the hair band on her wrist, and Severus thumbed through his much-abused copy of _Moste Potente Potions_ for the umpteenth time.

"This is the first time I've been away from home," said Lily quietly, as she glanced up at him. Severus noticed she was not her normal self. Somehow, she seemed quite nervous, which was unusual for a person like her. "I'm going to miss my parents, won't you?" she continued in the same small voice.

Severus nodded mutely, though he knew his reply was a complete and utter  
Iie. He didn't miss his parents, not even a little bit. He was looking forward to living at Hogwarts away from home, where he would be able to evade his father's abusive nature and his mother's constant depression looming over his head. "You'll get used to it," he said. "Besides, you have your owl to send letters to your parents."

Lily instantly brightened again. "Yes, of course!" She stood up, wobbled a bit from the train's constant motion, and took her owl's cage down from the shelf above her head. A tawny owl blinked sleepily as it gave a faint hoot, one eye opening just slightly to see what was going on. "Hello, Everette," she cooed. "Did you have a nice nap?" Everette stuck her beak out of the cage and nibbled her fingers gently in reply.

Severus gazed at Everette enviously. He longed to have an owl, or any familiar at all, of his own, but knew his parents wouldn't want to spare any money for one. His father had already complained about the price of the schoolbooks he had to buy at Diagon Alley ("Completely ripping us off, aren't they, those ruddy wizards?") and his mother merely shook her head behind him. He had gone to Diagon Alley with Lily and her parents (his father gave a noncommittal grunt when he asked if he could go with her, which he took as a yes) and had gotten everything he needed. When Lily's parents asked if he wanted a familiar, he had politely declined the offer. He abhorred the notion of being in debt to other people, least of all his best friend's parents. So he waited outside Eeylop's Owl Emporium while Lily and her parents entered the shop, and complimented on how pretty her owl was when she came back out, all the while gazing longingly at it.

"You can use my owl if you want to send any letters, too," Lily told him, as she fed Everette an Owl Treat. "Sure," replied Severus, looking back at her with gratitude. To be honest, he wouldn't be surprised if Lily turned to be a Hufflepuff, with all her kindness and willingness to help. He knew the owl wouldn't be very handy to him, since he was sure his parents wouldn't care about him sending letters back home, but his heart still warmed to Lily's caring offer.

They were just smiling at each other when the door to their compartment slid open. A buxom lady peeked round the edge of the door with a trolley filled to the brim with snacks next to her. "Pumpkin Pasties, anyone?" she said. "Chocolate Frogs? Bertie Bott's Beans?"

"No, thank you," Severus began to say, but he was interrupted by Lily's cry of, "Ooh, yes please! What are those?"

"Those are wizard sweets, Lily," said Severus tiredly, picking up a Chocolate Frog to examine it. "How much for one of these?"

In the end, Lily and Severus bought a Chocolate Frog each, a big box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, and an assortment of sweets even Severus couldn't name. Lily opened her Chocolate Frog and jumped in surprise as she was greeted with a cheerful croak. The frog hopped out of its box and landed on the window. "Go on, catch it!" said Severus. Lily looked a little unsure at first, but reached out and grabbed the frog by the middle. The frog instantly froze, motionless in her hand, and Lily stared warily at it. "You can eat it now," said Severus. "It's only chocolate."

Lily cautiously looked at the frog again, as if she was afraid it would come to life and jump at her face, but she shrugged and took a bite. She shut her eyes tightly, looking as if she were bracing herself in case the frog happened to taste like something other than chocolate, but her eyes quickly opened again in delight and, with her mouth full, she exclaimed, "This is really good, Sev!"

Severus opened his Chocolate Frog too, which promptly landed on his head. Both of them began to laugh as Severus picked the frog off his greasy hair. He bit into it, savouring the sweet flavour only chocolate could possess, and took the card out of the box.

"What's that?" asked Lily, staring at the hexagonal card. "It's a collectible. Comes with the frog," said Severus, gesturing at it with his free hand. "Ooh," replied Lily, as she reached into her own box and took out another card. "I've got Merlin!" she pronounced in glee. "I know who that is!" She turned it over. "There's writing too! It says Merlin is the most famous wizard of all time… I knew that… and he's also known as the Prince of Enchanters. Sev, who've you got?" Lily almost fell out of her seat trying to get a better look at Severus' card, but caught herself in time.

"Me? I've got Salazar Slytherin," said Severus. At Lily's baffled look, he looked down at his card again and turned it over. "He's one of the four celebrated Founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," (Lily nodded as comprehension dawned on her face) "I think I've told you before. He was also one of the first recorded Parselmouths, an accomplished Legilimens, and a notorious champion of pureblood supremacy.'"

"What's a Parselmouth, and a Legilimens?"

"A Parselmouth is a person who can talk to snakes, and a Legilimens is someone who can see into your mind."

"Oh, cool! Can you learn how to do that?

"I think you can't with Parseltongue. You're born with it or something. You can learn how to do Legilimency, but I've read about it and it sounds really hard."

Lily nodded and grinned childishly at him. "I'm going to collect all the cards, every last one of them!" She slipped her card into her pocket, patting it as soon as it was safely inside. "Good luck with that," Severus quipped. "There are probably hundreds of them out there."

"Oh. In that case, never mind," she sighed. Swinging her legs onto the seat next to her, which was strewn with multicoloured sweet wrappers, she continued, "I wouldn't know what to do with the frogs, anyway. I'd get sick if I tried to eat them all!" She reached over to the Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean box, opened it, and looked inside. "How colourful," she commented. "I'm going to try a red one." She took the bright crimson bean out and popped it into her mouth. Severus leaned forward in anticipation, waiting for her reaction.

"Ugh!" said Lily, as she spat the bean back out. It whizzed past Severus' right ear and embedded itself in the gap between the two seats right next to him. Severus shook his head in amazement, as he was, once again, completely dumbfounded by what Lily could do. Lily looked up at Severus with an expression of pure disgust in her bright green eyes. "That tasted like... like... what was that?"

Huffing slightly, she took the box and looked at the back of it, a finger running down what Severus could only imagine to be a list of Bertie Bott's flavours. Lily looked back up at him again. "Sev, do wizards use natural flavours for these beans?" she asked nervously. "I don't know," he replied. "Why do you ask?"

Lily bit her lip and looked back at the box. "It says here that the bean I just ate was centipede..."


	3. Crossroads

Crossroads

When Severus came to, the sky outside was dark and the train had stopped. He could hear the whistle blowing, signalling that the train ride had come to an end. Rubbing his eyes, he blearily looked around for Lily. He quickly spotted her bright red hair as she got off the train. She glanced back at him. "Come on!" she said with wide, excited eyes. "There's a _huge_ man outside looking for first years!"

Severus raised his eyebrows, but decided to follow her. He ran his hands through his hair, which had become quite unkempt from the long journey, and stepped off the Hogwarts Express.

"Firs' years o'er here!" shouted a large, burly man behind him, who towered intimidatingly over everybody else. "Firs' years, follow Hagrid, that's me!" Severus spotted Lily trotting just behind the man who called himself Hagrid. She mouthed for him to come after her, and he did, narrowly dodging a girl with glasses who was chasing after her familiar.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Wow!" breathed Lily. Hogwarts Castle stood just right in front of her and everybody else, towering majestically over them with the stars twinkling brightly behind it. Severus was too spellbound to say a word as he took in the breathtaking view. "'Ere it is!" bellowed Hagrid, rowing the small boat he was in right next to them. "Beautiful, innit?"

Lily smiled winningly at Hagrid and was rewarded with a wink in return. Severus watched the exchange with a small smile. He leaned over and stared into the deep depths of the lake. It was pitch black, and he was about to look back at the castle when he detected movement in the water. It wasn't ripples, he knew, because the waves it created were very different. It wasn't something small like Amber the goldfish, either. It was big. Curiously, Severus leaned over a little more to get a better look, knowing that if the creature were dangerous, it wouldn't be in the Black Lake. He could see it a bit clearer now. It looked like it had legs - several legs - how many were there?

SPLASH.

Before he knew it, Severus was soaking wet. He surfaced, spewing water from his mouth and shaking his head wildly as droplets of water flew from his greasy hair. The boat was not so far away from him. "Help!" he yelled. He could swim perfectly well, but he was also aware that whatever was in the water was probably right below –

An enormous tentacle suddenly burst out of the water and seized him by the waist. Severus screamed as he was lifted into the air, and he felt as if he were about to throw up. He could see Hagrid far below him, yelling, "Hold on, boy! Hold on, I'll get yer..." He squeezed his eyes shut, expecting the tentacle to throw him far out into the deep end of the lake. He was surprised when he found himself being safely deposited back into the boat where Lily was, still completely drenched in water. She immediately reached over to hug him.

"Sev, that was fantastic!" she said, eyes wide. "That was so brave!"

"Brave?" said Severus weakly, shivering from the cold. "I thought it was going to kill me..."

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The first years trudged up the steps to the door of the Great Hall. They stood there idly for a while, until a severe-looking woman came down the stairs to greet them.

"As soon as you enter the Great Hall," she said, looking at them sternly over the glasses perched on her long nose, "you shall all be Sorted into your houses. There is no need to panic. You only need to line up on the side and wait for your name to be called. Now, I shall go in and get things ready whilst you stay here and behave yourselves." With a sweep of her cloak, she disappeared.

"Who was the boy who fell in the lake a while ago?" someone said. Severus turned to look for the source of the voice. His eyes landed on the boy he had seen in the train compartment with three others, the one with the round glasses and electrified hair. "Was it you?" leered the boy, now staring straight at him. Without waiting for a reply, he nodded with a smirk and turned to the three other boys who were next to him. "Did you see his face whilst he was up there?" he laughed, as they joined in. "He was screaming like a girl!"

"He was not!" Lily said defiantly, stepping in front of Severus, as if she were shielding him. "Lily... don't..." whispered Severus urgently, but she didn't budge. "I can do this on my own..." he pleaded, but Lily steadfastly ignored him and turned to glare at the boys. The boy with the glasses softened a little as he took Lily in. "You're a friend of his, aren't you?" he asked. "What's your name?"

"Lily. Lily Evans," she replied. "And I'm asking you to leave Severus alone." She said the last word with another menacing look at the four boys. All of them except the first backed up a little. Severus inwardly smiled. He greatly admired Lily's bravery.

"Lily? That's a fancy name..." murmured the boy with the glasses, looking at her interestedly. Severus quietly thought to himself that the boy seemed to think very highly of himself. Too highly. "Trying to protect your boyfriend, Flower Power?"

"Don't call me that!" said Lily heatedly, flushing a dark red which clashed horribly with her hair. "Just leave us be!" She turned her back on him and pulled Severus with her by the sleeve. "Come on, Sev."

"All right, all right..." The boy held up his hands in mock defeat, but Severus heard him whisper nastily to his friends, "That old witch is back, anyway..."

Sure enough, the severe-looking woman was back again. "You may now enter the Great Hall," she stated. "Do not run. Everybody in the school will be there, and that includes Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster. Please line up and I shall call your names when your turn comes."

The first years shuffled into single file and were escorted into the Great Hall. A magnificent sight welcomed them before their eyes. Hundreds of students were already seated at the tables, each of them standing up and craning their necks to get a better look at them. Some were applauding as they walked down the narrow aisle, and as Severus looked up, he saw countless stars above him, twinkling all the way, as if they were happy for the new students' arrival too.

The students came to a halt at the front. A hat on a stool sat in front of them, looking very tattered and worn. The severe-looking woman appeared with a scroll in hand. Clearing her throat importantly, she unrolled it and read the first name on the list. "Abercrombie, Sophia."

A thin, brown-haired girl, surprisingly tall for her age, stepped up and sat on the stool. The witch with the scroll took the hat and placed it neatly over her head. Severus waited for something to happen. Perhaps the hat would transform Sophia into something? Or would it ask her to cast a spell? After what seemed to be about half a minute or so, the hat bellowed one word which was so loud Severus nearly toppled over, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

The list went on. Severus recognised the wavy-haired boy who had sat in the compartment along with the boy with the glasses. His name, as he learned, was Sirius Black, and Severus was slightly surprised to see him look a little dejected when the hat Sorted him into Gryffindor. After a few names, Lily followed. Severus immediately straightened up to watch. As the hat was placed over her head, Lily seemed to have an internal battle with the hat, screwing up her eyes and mouthing words Severus couldn't interpret quickly enough. Whatever was going on inside Lily's head, it was taking a long time. Finally, the hat declared her a Gryffindor. Severus applauded her as she skipped her way to the scarlet and gold table, bright eyes glittering.

Severus didn't pay attention to many others, but he caught a few he recognised. The girl who had been chasing her familiar back at the station (her name was Natalia Jonas) was Sorted into Ravenclaw; a dark-eyed, edgy looking boy whose name was Rodolphus Lestrange took a while before becoming a Slytherin, after a girl who Severus assumed to be his sister called Bellatrix was Sorted into the same house; the mousy-haired, scared-looking boy in the train compartment was also in Gryffindor; a girl with dark hair and eyes (Meiling Tang) was a Ravenclaw; and the boy with the rat Severus recognised on the train was very surprisingly declared a Gryffindor, too...

At some point, the name "Potter, James" was called, and the taunting boy with the glasses sat on the stool as he awaited his Sorting. When the Sorting Hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" Severus almost hit himself. How unfortunate Lily was to be in the same house with that boy, he thought. It stung him to see the boy prance his way to the table, but what stung him even more was when he took the empty seat next to Lily without asking her if he could. "How dare you!" Severus wanted to say to him. "She doesn't want to sit with you!"

"Snape, Severus."

Severus suddenly felt all eyes on him as he quietly stepped onto the platform. He sat in the stool, feeling completely and entirely numb as the hat was placed onto his head.

"Hello… interesting person you are..." said a low voice inside his head. Severus willed himself not to say anything, as his hands clenched the edge of the stool tightly. "You don't need to speak, boy, it's all in your head... now let me see, let me see... you want friends, don't you, now? Yes, you do... it's a very powerful need, I can feel it in here... I know a house which would suit your perfectly... a house where you will find not only friends, but brothers... it could only be SLYTHERIN!"

Severus opened his eyes, and saw the Slytherin table erupt in cheers. He walked to the Slytherin table with his head bowed, and he took his place at an empty seat, next to a boy he recognized to be Rodolphus Lestrange. The other people at his table were congratulating him, but Severus couldn't hear them. All noise seemed far away to him, and his eyes were only focused on the table on the other end of the hall, where he could see Lily and James at their table. He was shocked to see them speaking to each other. Not only that but they were smiling - Lily was smiling, too. Then, slowly, he saw James' hand reach up for a handshake. He saw him say something to her. _Don't shake his hand...please, _he thought desperately._ He's an enemy...he was mean to us just now, remember?_ But Lily couldn't hear his thoughts at such a distance. She was too busy looking at James. Then, Severus watched numbly in shock as her hand came up to meet his, and they shook hands firmly, smiling as they looked into each other's eyes, laughing as they did so.

He didn't care that Rodolphus was trying to speak to him; he was too focused on the pair of Gryffindors. Something twisted in his stomach and he looked away, unable to stand the sight of them. He knew that Lily was kind to everyone with no exceptions, but he hadn't quite expected her bounds of kindness to stretch to people _he _didn't like. Did she have enough sense to know that? Did she even care?

_Maybe not, _he thought.

**Author's Note:**

**Though this story can be read as a stand-alone, it is actually part of a series. If you're interested in what happened before or after Severus and Lily went to Hogwarts, there are several of my fics you can pick from.**

_**Four Seasons, **_**a four-chapter work in which Severus first meets Lily.**

_**Lily's House, **_**a three-chapter work in which Severus and Lily get their Hogwarts letters and have a sleepover, as well as prepare for school.**

_**Ink, Parchment and a Quill, **_**featuring the letters which Lily writes to her parents starting in her first year and ending in her third.**


End file.
